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About Me

I am a mother to four busy children and a graduate of Pratt Institute (BFA) and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary (M.Div.) Along the way, I had the great opportunity to visit Orthodox churches in Finland, Mexico, Alaska, Germany, Brussels, Amsterdam, Prague, Switzerland, Paris, Venice, Greece, Turkey, and Romania.
I am thankful for the online chance to share Orthodox ideas to keep our children engaged and wish your families many blessings~

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"The solution is to be found through the sanctification of the parents. Become saints and you will have no problems with your children." Father Porphyrios , Wounded By Love

Saturday, March 31, 2018

PASCHA: The Red Egg

Here's a look at the pious custom of red eggs in the Orthodox Church for you and your families to enjoy. Where did the tradition come from anyway? It seems there are a few possible answers to this question...of which I prefer to believe in the miracle that God worked through His handmaiden, Saint Mary Magdalene (whom by the way is often wrongly attributed as the prostitute who anointed Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair - Here is an Orthodox Wiki for a well cited clarification).

Other symbolism, not as dogma, but as tradition includes:

*The egg as the new life in Christ through His resurrection

*Red for the color of our Lord's blood shed on the cross but also for His divinity

*The outer shell to be cracked as the doors of Hades are shattered open

Since children enjoy decorating the eggs, why not encourage them to display their faith on them, as the picture shows! Be sure not to throw away any icons if you use them, but certainly include symbols like ~ icxc, fish, crosses, tree of life, the Trinity, 4 Greek Letters for Mother of God...etc

Try creating a design on your eggs with with melted wax,

then dip them to dye them red, and afterward, burn off the wax to reveal the design underneath. This is a wonderful craft for older kids to try. Ukranian Egg Kits are available online. The simple wooden tools for the wax are called "kistkas"

LASTLY - remember, eggs and eggshells from the Church that have been blessed should not be thrown away! Please gather them to be burned with your holy items and ashes buried.

Contrary to what some might suppose, the elevation of the ubiquitous egg is not a modern commercial hype or based on an ancient pagan belief. In orthodoxy has deeper meaning. It is rooted in the earliest days of Christianity and other religions, toο. The obvious implication is that the egg symbolizes the hatching of new life, the resurrection and rebirth of humanity. An early tradition embraced by the Greek church calls for coloring the eggs red to symbolize the blood sacrifice of Christ. In the early days of Christianity, the poor would wake up every day and have to find something to eat, so, if you were invited by someone to share a meal, you were sharing your life. That meal of life was often simple: a divinely nutritious and ever-so-ordinary hard-boiled egg. Orthodoxy is the perfect communication between humans and God.ΚΑΛΟ ΠΑΣΧΑ

I am doing blogging for the first time in my life but I wanted to share something with you. Please forgive my ignorance. Our Church Bookstore published this educational Paschal Cube for kids in a form of a greeting card last year. PLease check the short youtobe video.http://youtu.be/bxemW06nFrg

I am doing blogging for the first time in my life but I wanted to share something with you. Please forgive my ignorance. Our Church Bookstore published this educational Paschal Cube for kids in a form of a greeting card last year. PLease check the short youtobe video.http://youtu.be/bxemW06nFrg

Thank you for sharing such great information. It is informative, can you help me in finding out more detail on Child Education Plans, i am interested and would like to know more about this field and wanted to understand the basics of Child Plans